Monday, 26 August 2019

"The vast gulf that separates activist politics from real life seems to be growing. Leading politicians portray a population cowering in fear, seething with resentment, obsessed with inequity, longing for a time gone by… and begging politicians for the strength and vision to change things. Yet in the US of 2016, once we turn off the media and shut down their voices, we discover a different reality all around us..." #QotD

"The vast gulf that separates activist politics from real life seems to be growing. If you listen to the leading politicians talk these days, you would think that the whole of American life is currently dominated by violence, injustice, discrimination, pillaging, isolation, deceit, fear, poverty, suffering, and decline generally. There are left and right wing versions of this story, but each portray a population cowering in fear, seething with resentment, obsessed with inequity, longing for a time gone by… and begging politicians for the strength and vision to change things.
"It illustrates how it is that states thrive in bad times more than good, and how even a slight downtick in the rate of economic growth can enliven politicians to advertise their services to people clamouring for answers.
"And in the US of 2016, once we turn off the media and shut down their voices, we discover a different reality all around us: more choice, more convenience, more peace, and new technologies and options that make life ever more wonderful. Because markets are still working and human ingenuity has not been entirely shut down by regulatory controls and taxes, we still see beauty all around us; so much so that you barely recognise the world that politicians describe. It’s truly bizarre, this disconnect.
"And what strikes you most about the world today is precisely how little confidence people have in political solutions. Indeed, they are mostly not buying what the politicians are selling. It’s no wonder that roughly two thirds of Americans tell pollsters that they are both dissatisfied and alarmed at mainstream political options, and one in four are willing to say that they dislike both leading candidates. If you feel the same, consider that you are in the majority."
~ Jeffrey Tucker, from his book Right-Wing Collectivism: The Other Threat to Liberty (pp. 31-32).

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